Leon@TLCArmy
Review
TLC Bring The Magic Back Home To Atlanta On Latest Summer Tour
TLC is not only the biggest-selling female group in the United States, but their tour stats go unmatched, too. 2000’s ‘Fanmail Tour‘ remains as the highest-grossing tour by a girl group in history, ever.
Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins and Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas are ensuring they remain as one of the world’s greatest live acts. Ever since returning to the concert circuit in 2013 after a lengthy hiatus, they have been touring consistently, doing a mixture of spot dates and major tours, both nationally and overseas.
Their current major tour, sponsored by Live Nation, is their fourth tour in five years, and see’s them on the road with rappers Flo Rida and co-headliner, Nelly. The tour kicked off on July 23 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Their home town Atlanta was the second spot on the summer amphitheater tour on July 24.
TLC’s return to Atlanta was long overdue. The girls last performed in the city at the tail-end of 2017, to celebrate the New Year at the city’s annual Peach Drop celebration at Woodruff Park .
T-Boz and Chilli had promised fans that this tour would be something fresh and exciting to experience, and they kept their word. Everything has been updated and refreshed, from the choreography and stage production, to updated mixes of their hits and additions to the set list with some fan favorites. Proving that they are listening to the feedback from the fans.
Flo Rida opened the night in true Flo Rida style, cranking through his 50-minute set, performing his ever popular hits, “Whistle”, “Right Round”, “Club Can’t Handle Me”, “Wild One“, new track, “Snack“, and his debut hit, “Low“.
Nelly, who alternates the closing spot with TLC on different nights, took the second spot at the Atlanta gig at Cellairis Amphitheater at Lakewood. Nelly blazed through his energetic 75-minute with his classics, “E.I”, “Country Grammar”, “Ride Wit Me”, “Hot In Herre”, “Just A Dream” and “Dilemma“.
Nelly has a few surprise guests during his set, in the form of some of Atlanta’s greatest rappers of his era. Jermaine Dupri joined Nelly to perform his 2005 smash, “Grillz“. Big Boi also came out to perform “Kryptonite” with him. T.I. even made an appearance, performing his own smashes, “Whatever You Like” and “What You Know“. Nelly’s cousin, J-Kwon, performed his infectious single, “Tipsy“.
TLC, the night’s main attraction, graced the stage at 9:45PM, delivering a solid 75-minute set of nostalgia and some recent bops from their latest release. T-Boz and Chilli, along with Left Eye‘s presence in her original vocal playbacks, kept the majority of the audience on their feet.
The show opened with the classic, “What About Your Friends?“, which featured a new, energetic dance break in the middle. “Ain’t 2 Proud 2 Beg” followed shortly after, before taking things down a notch with the smooth, “Diggin’ On You“.
Things got straight back up with the club anthem, “Silly Ho“, and the “Baby-Baby-Baby” remix. After a moment of thanking fans for their loyalty and support, they launch into “FanMail” and “Joy Ride“, both tracks solely dedicated to the fans.
For the first time in their live shows they sing the hook from “Crooked Smile“, their 2013 collaboration with J. Cole. They have only ever performed the song once before at the iHeart Music Awards that same year. T-Boz gave a few words about her struggles as a young girl before launching into “Unpretty”.
The ladies take a short break, allowing their four talented dancers to do their thing and show the best of their talents.
The medley came next, consisting of a mix of classics and rarely performed tracks that the fans adore, giving each album some appreciation. Starting with “Hat 2 Da Back“, followed by the amazing “Kick Your Game” and “Come Get Some“, concluding with the superb hook to “Girl Talk” from the 3D album.
The girls kept the momentum flowing with performances of the seductive “Red Light Special“, the uplifting “It’s Sunny“, the summery vibes of “Way Back“, and then T-Boz and Chilli talk about a deadbeat guy who is hanging on the passengers side of a car next to them at the traffic lights, before launching into the worldwide anthem, “No Scrubs“.
As they get halfway through their mega smash, “Waterfalls“, the ladies stop and ask the audience to honor their sister, Left Eye, and put the lights on their phone’s up in the air (dubbed as ‘Lights For Left Eye’), as they played her rap in full and danced the classic choreography while her video played out to the crowd.
A great start to a phenomenal joint tour with 3 top acts, sharing 12 #1 singles amongst them. Stay tuned for more surprises that may pop-up along the way! The tour concludes on August 31 in Irvine, CA.
Photos by Terence Rushin
Tickets are available at LiveNation.com
Set List:
Watch: Chilli, Mya & Lil’ Kim Bond In Girls Cruise
Three strong, independent 90’s girls Chilli, Mya and Lil’ Kim are gearing up for the cruise of a lifetime — welcome to VH1‘s Girls Cruise!
“I’ve travelled the world, seen it all. But the music industry is tough. Especially for women”, Lil’ Kim narrates in the show’s opening. “We never have the time to just stop, and enjoy the view”.
“So I’m bringing some of the baddest females and some of my besties to set sail on a 10-day trip to make up for lost time!”, Kim continues.
This trip is about bond, breakthrough and turn up! We’re gonna sea, slay and love across 3 of the most beautiful Caribbean islands — Barbados, Tobago and Trinidad. Ending in the most epic street party in the world!
Mya and Lil’ Kim have been ‘bonded for life’, as they shared their first Grammy together for their 2001 collaboration for the Moulin Rouge smash, “Lady Marmalade“, but Kim had yet to form a real bond with Chilli.
“I’m like the 4th member of TLC!”, Lil’ Kim exclaims. “Chilli, T-Boz and Left Eye were always my sisters. I have so many memories with Left Eye, and so many memories with T-Boz. But, I don’t have any memories really with Chilli, because we never really got to bond”.
“I do need a vacation like, yesterday!”, Chilli confesses. “But, I’m a planner… You know what, I’m gonna do it! I need a break, a little break!”
The girls touch down in Barbados and meet up on a multi-million dollar yacht! Chilli and Mya meet Lil’ Kim’s friends joining them on the cruise — B. Simone, Pretty Vee, Tiffany Panhilason and Char Defranseco.
“This right here is my baby hair motivation!”, Mya states about Chilli’s famous baby hair. “Everybody, study the baby hairs! Baby hair queen!”, B. Simone adds.
The girls and Char all toast the moment with champagne — except Chilli, who has a bottle of water! “Hold on, hold on, why do you have water?”, B. Simone questions Chilli.
“I don’t drink the devil’s juice”, Chilli replies. “Ooh, seriously you’re keeping me focused!”, B. Simone says. Chilli explains, “I don’t drink the devil’s juice, I don’t do any drugs whatsoever. But, that doesn’t mean I don’t know how to turn up!”.
Tune in to VH1 every Monday to keep up with these iconic ladies to find out what they get up to on their once in a lifetime journey!
T-Boz Gives Fans Some TLC With A House Party In LA
On June 9, 2019, Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins held a house party for her fans that had paid to go to her annual charity event, ‘T-Boz Unplugged‘, following last months announcement of the cancellation of this years show.
Many of her diehard fans were in attendance, including the lovely Carl, one of the biggest TLC fans ever! Here’s how his night at the party went down, in his own words!🎉
“Fans arrived around 5:30pm. T-Boz arrived around 5:45pm. She went downstairs to prep for the event. A steady flow of fans kept arriving throughout the beginning of the party.
The first thing that fans had to do was give their phones up. We received a ticket that matched the ticket of our phones. Also, the fans were treated to food and drinks. It was a reunion for a lot of TLC fans. There was a lot of “Hellos” and hugging.
There was a music mix of TLC songs and today’s hit songs. The house was hot! The AC couldn’t keep up with all the hot bodies. The windows and patio door had to be opened to funnel some of the heat out of the house.
T-Boz was downstairs and a line formed to go down and take pics with her. Finally, the hostess, T-Boz, came from downstairs to make her appearance and to hang with the fans. She hugged and mingled with so many fans. She showed a lot of love. She gave everyone their special time with her.
The food flowed steadily. It was a lot of talking and mingling. T-Boz was showered with gifts. Next, there was more dancing. T-Boz and about three fans started a TLC dance class. The fans did TLC dances and was taught some TLC moves.
Other fans watched while the dancing was going on. One request was made by one fan. The fan wanted to hear one of T-Boz’s solo songs. The song was “Stronger Than You Know.” T-Boz had the DJ play the song and said that it was one of her original oldest songs that she had written.
After the dancing, everyone clapped. There was so much fun going on. T-Boz mingled some more then she headed downstairs for more pictures. Fans got to take pictures with T-Boz in a photo booth as well as professional pics by a photographer. This was the second round of pics.
The line formed and people went down one by one to have their pic time with T-Boz. After all the pics were taken, the event was coming to a close. Fans started to head home. Some lingered a bit.
Finally, the event was over. It was one of the best TLC experiences fans could have ever had. Fans got to actually hang out with the person they so admired. T-Boz was very gracious. She was happy. She apologized for the situation.
Oh, also, T-Boz’s daughter was at the event and partying with us as well. Chase is very sweet and giving to let us take time out with her Mama. Fun was had by all. This event will never be forgotten.
Much love to T-Boz, Chase, the photographer, the chef, and the rest of the crew. The event was a success!!!!”
TLC-Army.com 